My articles emerge depending on what ever tickles my fancy; hope you enjoy the ride. It started several years ago when one of my op-ed pieces to the Houston Chronicle got butchered; been blogging ever since.

Monday, February 28, 2005

“These cases don't belong in the public arena,” says the Rev. John Paris, a bioethicist at Boston College and an expert on right-to-die issues. ( This sentence from an article was written in regard to the Terri Shiavo issue February 28, 2005)

In the Christian Science Monitor article by Gregory M. Lamb, “Right to stay alive: Who decides?”, two alarming character flaws of our emerging society came into focus. The first, that such a field as bioethicist has been created and the second, even more alarming is that there are such things as so called “Experts” on the right to die.

I can remember being more than a little alarmed when I saw a billboard along side a major freeway advertising “Who’s the Father”, an agency that did the blood work/DNA work in cases of undecided parental responsibility. Had our society become so casual as to need such a thing, much less such a need as to make it a viable industry? No, I did not fall off the turnip truck this morning, if that’s on your mind.

Bioethicist, now that’s a made up modern word to cover something that was never needed, nor should be needed by any civilized society. The NAZI regime had no need for one because they intended to violate all concepts of morality in their testing/torture of “lesser qualified human forms”. Saddam Hessian’s secret police were no different, nor were Joseph Stalin’s or any of the notable monsters of this world. They had no need to have someone with a title to remind them that some things just are not acceptable, they were going to do them anyway, why have to be reminded? So, a bioethicist, is a civilized society’s way of saying, “We plan to leave the accepted paths of decency, but only in short forays, most likely of little consequence to our overall society”. What was it my old friend and supervisor advised me to say, oh yes, “Pure Male Bovine Excrement!” I had gotten a written reprimand for having voiced the more popular phrase, quite correctly, only in front of the wrong folks.

On to the second issue, that of having a so called Expert in right to die issues. Talk about placing yourselves above the masses. The outright audacity, gall or nerve; call it what you will, to extend such a title upon any human seeks to elevate that person to the same level as our Creator; who alone has that privilege. I got all this from just one sentence in the article. The rest of the article went on and on attempting to justify the “expert” observations with inaccurate or incomplete information intended to justify their position.

I am also a big fan of talk radio, especially the Rush Limbaugh Show. I can just imagine hearing Rush explaining how, “The Rev-a-rind John Paris, heavy emphasis on the Rev-a-rind as he likes to repeat sometimes, and bio-eth-i-cist announced today….”, yes, that would be how Rush would introduce this one. I’m sorry; but the Christian Science Monitor does not represent anything Christian when it sides with violating inalienable God given rights, such as the right to life. (sound of a piece of paper straightened in front of the EIB microphone for effect )

Maybe a name change is in store for you guys, say, The Monitor, without the Christian part so as not to confuse anyone. Try selling shoes, or providing meals to the poor; but leave any hint of religion out of your message, you left God’s will a long time ago, that assumes you ever had it to begin with.

I have to be an old timer from the way I continue to compare the newer movie “picks” with some of the older ones. I avoided the whole Oscar ceremony gig and opted to watch some real movies. I did take in one of the best films ever made on TCM, “Bridge On the River Kwai”. Now that was an Oscar quality movie in almost every regard. I think it may actually improve with age, knowing the importance of that scene where they take Colonel Nicholson, Alec Guinness, out of the “cooker box” in the middle of the night to have a “meet and confer” with Col. Saito, Sessue Hayakawa. Starved as he was he declined the portion of meat, thirsty he also declined the offered drink; knowing that the other fellow had run out of options. Followed closely by the scene where the English officers were now running things, the Japanese Commandant acting as a mere puppet, “The order has already been given.”. There was so much power created for the viewer and today’s blockbusters can only offer special effects, great special effects to cover the lack of depth. Then the following of the detonator wire after the river went down, “Madness!”. That was an Oscar movie worth the film it was made on.

I have the movie in my Laser Disc collection, for you young folks these were the forerunners of the current DVD format, large silver discs, the size of the old 33rpm records, with improved quality both in picture and certainly in audio output compared to VHS. Laser Discs fall somewhere between antediluvian and Jurassic on the techno scale of today. I’m just now getting over the Flu, a really nasty last 6 days, so that may be good medicine. This movie is gut wrenching, just what I need to get rid of what ever might be left of the Flu. “Be happy in your work!”

Sunday, February 27, 2005

I was going to leave this alone until Monday; but it just wouldn’t go away. Being that it is Sunday, I work at balancing the various aspects of my own humanity so that my spiritual being has some pure input. The Terri Shaivo court case has some very spiritual aspects to it. I read a comment on one of my blogs that caused me pause. Have we not instilled a sense of humanity into the next generation?

“The person that put herself in this situation in the first place was trying to kill herself. She was intentionally not eating and only drinking liquids to keep her alive if even that. This resulted in her brain damage that put her in a vegetative state. All the courts did was a favor to her. She was a vegetable after she did this to herself.”, quoting from the comment section of my blog.

When I was a patrol officer, many times over my career I was dispatched to a “disturbance in progress”. Upon arrival it would turn out to be an attempted suicide in progress. When enough officers had arrived to put the advantage on our side we would out maneuver the dangers, take away the weapon of choice and then control the individual. At great risk to our own selves we would often tackle these people to take away the weapon. It would have been so much safer to just “pop a cap” and call for a clean up crew to haul off the completed “suicide” victim. Why did we not do that? Maybe its because we believe that even the most deranged people deserve a chance at a better life. We “arrested” them from doing damage to themselves and/or others, took them to the local emergency room for treatment which would automatically place them under psychiatric observation and care. It was societies hope that these individuals would eventually come to grips with the issues and come out leading a productive life.

Were there times when I thought to myself, “What the heck am I wasting my time over this piece of garbage?” Possibly, but I can’t recall any off hand. On occasion we would joke about some of the “successful” suicides; call it thick skinned police humor. Someday I will post the story about the Killer Dr Pepper Machine; just not today.

There used to be a wacko close to downtown who would stand on the side of a major thoroughfare, wait for the right moment and then jump into the middle of the street in an attempt to get hit by a car. I got the call to check it out and the idiot tried to get hit by my patrol car. I wonder how many folks went home with their heart stuck in their throats all the way home; thanking God that they hadn’t run over another human being. I took this wretch to the hospital and filled out the necessary forms. I don’t know what ever became of that person. Hopefully time healed the wounds.

On another attempted suicide I happened to be working in the capacity as Field Training Instructor. I had my rookie with me when we investigated the call. The “suspect” had been transported to a local hospital prior to our arrival. The room where this fellow lived had several “ear marks” that lent credibility to the suicide angle. On the floor were several framed photographs of family members, all in a semi-circle where he had been going over his life prior to taking his own. He had put on his going to church Sunday suit, made his bed and left a short note. What had saved his life that day was a momentary flinch when he pulled the trigger. The bullet had glanced the top of his forehead and bounced off his skull rather than penetrating it.

We followed up with a visit to the hospital where he had been treated for an “accidental gun shot wound”. The ER doctor could see that there would be much more paper work involved had he called it an attempted suicide. I did talk to the doctor, who considered it “risky” to his own career. “I made him promise not to do himself in for at least 6 months”. The story would have ended there, at least I would never have found out about “the rest of the story”, as Paul Harvey says on his radio show.

Six months and a day later this poor soul did finish the job. It happened on evening shift and two units were called to a disturbance, “man holding a shotgun”. One of the units happened to be the rookie I had been training, the same one who had a prior knowledge of this fellow. Upon arrival the suspect recognized the young officer, funny what some people remember. He made it a point to clear the doctor of any chance of getting in trouble, “Its been six months now.” He then blew himself up, getting pieces of human debris all over the young officer’s uniform. This officer waited around the station until I came on for my shift to tell me about it. He had regained his composure by then, all the same he took it to heart about how “just maybe” we had let him down by not having him committed. He was right, no doubt about it. We had permitted a chance to be lazy to sway our judgment. Do I beat myself up over missed opportunities to have done a better job; to a certain extent, yes. Memories and conscious awareness are what make us who we are. The fact that this comes to mind at this point in time makes it relevant to the Terri Shaivo case.

Whether or not Terri attempted to starve herself to death became a mute point the moment she came into the care of those who know better. Whether she was committed as a psychiatric ward of the State or simply a patient in a facility able to care for her needs; the fact remains that our society does not assist in suicide. I would hope that this is still important to us as a people.

Can you just see the SOP manual for the Police Department a few years from now if Judge Green’s ruling stands up; “Upon arrival determine if the citizen desires to commit suicide. Discharge your firearm in such a manner as to mortally wound “suspect” without causing damage to surrounding property or injury to others” Oh yes, this will be lovely.

Saturday, February 26, 2005

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”, from the Declaration of Independence.

Judge George Greer has taken it upon himself to deprive a citizen, Terri Schiavo, of a God Given Unalienable Right, the right to life. This alone should be enough to have him removed from the bench. The criminal courts have been granted the power to sentence in capital crimes; no such power exists in civil matters. Government is not the author of Life, God our Creator has that awesome responsibility, and therefore government has no authority in such matters except in criminal matters. Judge Greer might want to read the Constitution for guidance, except it appears he hasn’t followed it in a long time.

“Article IV, Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.” I would consider starving a defenseless woman to death a form of domestic violence.

Bill of Rights Amendment V, “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” This was aimed at criminals, not defenseless bedridden invalids. I don’t remember seeing any papers come back from the grand jury accusing Terri Schiavo of any capital crime.

Bill of Rights Amendment IX “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” Maybe I’m wrong; but snuffing out a life, doesn’t that fall under “deny or disparage”?

Bill of Rights Amendment XIV Section 1. “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Maybe this above all else is the most important violation of Terri Schiavo’s rights as a citizen. Due process, my aunt Tillie’s extraordinarily large butt!

I say let’s put Judge Green in a room and starve him until his brain becomes more receptive to the rights of citizens. Okay, now some hot shot lawyer needs to work on this. I’m just going over what’s on paper, very old; but important papers.

In closing, a few words from the past may help to put us back on the path:

“We cannot brook the thought of it (the Constitution) being torn into shreds, or destroyed, or trampled under foot and ignored by men. We cannot tolerate the sentiment, at one time expressed, by a man high in authority in the nation. He said: "The constitution be damned; the popular sentiment of the people is the constitution!" That is the sentiment of anarchism, and has spread to a certain extent, and is spreading over "the land of liberty and the home of the brave." Joseph F. Smith, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from a talk given in 1939.

I get this one genetically, my father suffered from it too. I was too young to remember of my own; however, the story has been told enough times over the years that I have no doubt to its accuracy.

My folks were out shopping for Christmas cards and had found one they both liked. Upon asking the price, the young black lady behind the counter checked and reported the information back. Without thinking, dad reacted to the exorbitant price, “Holy Makel Der Andy!”, the old Amos and Andy radio show line. I’m sure he meant nothing by it, other than that the price was way too much; all the same my mother kicked him in the leg and ushered him out of the store.

Did I mention this is a three part story? Jump ahead to the near present. My wife and I were at the local Sonic drive in for burgers. We weren’t all that hungry and decided to skip the fries. The young lady on the PA system asked a second time, “Are you sure you don’t want fries with your burgers?” The line from the Bogart movie, Treasure of the Sierra Madres, came to me. “We don’t need no stinking fries!”, spoken with a guttural Tex-mex accent.

I was at my chiropractor for an adjustment; having nothing to do with the bruise on my leg, and telling what I thought was a funny story, “We don’t need no stinking fries!”. My chiropractor was in stitches and had to regain her composer. I thought it was funny, but not all that funny. It turns out that when she had announced to her young daughter that she was pregnant with a little baby brother, her daughter shot back, “We don’t need no stinking boys!” What would we do without great lines to get us into trouble.

I hear all the pseudo intellectuals patting themselves on the back for having come up with “theories” about how things came to be, the universe, the solar system and even how man came out of the muck as an “evolved” critter. Now, I am no scientist; but I have some contact with the “long hair” crowd via my readings. I have a folder full of interesting articles that tend to support the idea of Intelligent Design, which is a watered down term for what it really is, all of God’s Creations. These folks can’t even say His name. Today I will pull one out of the hat, just to wet your appetites. Tip of the hat to Rossputin for bringing this subject up.

The Planets Testify of the Creatorby John P. Pratt

The Book of Abraham claim about planetary "set times" leads to startling evidence for design by a Creator. Planetary periods, and even some intervals between conjunctions, are multiples of two sacred time units. In last month's article[1] we summarized the Lord's revelation on astronomy as recorded in the Book of Abraham as Abraham's Three Truths:1. One revolution of Kolob is one day unto the Lord, being 1,000 earth years.2. There are set times for the earth, moon and sun which were designed to reckon time.3. The planets form a progression of increasing set times, designed to reckon time, beginning with the earth and moon and ending with Kolob.

The first two truths were discussed in detail, where it was pointed out that the precise "set time" for the moon of 29.53059 days and of the sun of 365.2425 days form the basis of the (corrected) Hebrew Calendar, and both of those numbers need to be just that precise for the calendar to work perfectly for the 7,000 years of the earth's temporal existence. This article proceeds to discuss Abraham's Third Truth, proposing just what the "set times" of the other planets in the solar system are, and demonstrates that they form a series of very precise intervals like perfectly interlocking gears in a great celestial timepiece, just as the Lord revealed to Abraham. The astonishing result is that the periods of the planets and even of their conjunctions are almost exactly whole number multiples of two sacred time intervals. That is strong evidence that the entire solar system was designed by a Creator. Planetary Set Times Let us begin by relating the set times of all of the major planets to the set time of the earth (the day) as described in Abraham's Third Truth and also to the year, which Abraham's First Truth tells us is tied to the revolutions of Kolob. Thus, if we measure the set times of other planets in terms of the earth's day and year, then they will also be tied to the reckoning of the Lord's time on Kolob. This is a very important point which has not occurred to modern astronomers. Anciently, unenlightened men thought that the earth was the center of the universe. Now scientists have discovered that we are far from the center of our galaxy, so it would never occur to modern astronomers to consider the possibility that our solar system was designed with the earth's mean solar day as a fundamental unit of time. But Abraham was shown that even though the center of the order of stars to which we belong is very distant from us (Abr. 3:3), yet the earth's day and year were set up according to celestial measures and hence might well serve as fundamental units for the solar system.

Synodic or Sidereal?

There are two principal orbital periods for each of the planets which are candidates to be called the "set time" for that planet. The first is the "sidereal" period, which is the one usually listed in astronomy books as the orbital period. The sidereal period is relative to the stars, meaning the average interval between successive orbital passings of the planet near the same star. The other period is called the "synodic" period. It is the period as seen from the earth relative to the sun rather than to a star. For example, it is the interval between successive risings of the planet with the sun. Astronomers tend to ignore the synodic period because it is earth-based. It just hasn't appeared to be of fundamental importance as does the sidereal period, which is the same as the period of the planet orbiting the sun, independent of the earth. These two periods can be very different. For example, consider the planet Venus. It orbits the sun 13 times while the earth orbits the sun 8 times, that is, in 8 years. Thus, it's sidereal period is 8/13 of a year, or about 225 days. But suppose we ask, "How many times will Venus appear to rise with the sun in those 8 years?" The answer is that as we orbit the sun 8 times, Venus must pass us 5 times in order for it to finish its 13 orbits. Thus, it will appear on earth that Venus passes the sun 5 times in 8 years and its synodic period is 8/5 of a year, or about 584 days. In case you don't understanding that reasoning, the main point is that the sidereal period of 225 days is very different from its synodic period of 584 days. Which planetary period makes the most sense to be what the Lord called the "set time" for each planet? There are reasons for choosing either, so we need to consider this point. The planets can be divided into two groups: the inner and the outer planets. The planets Mercury and Venus are nearer to the sun than is the earth and hence are called "inner" planets. Because they must always stay near the sun, they can only be seen shortly after sunset or before sunrise. Hence, they are both called evening and morning "stars." (Note that throughout the Book of Abraham and also in this paper, the words "star" and "planet" are used almost interchangeably). Venus often can be seen in the twilight before stars are even visible. Thus, for the inner planets, as for the moon, the synodic period relative to the sun seems to be the more important, and will be used for their set times. On the other hand, it can be argued that the more important period for the outer planets is the sidereal period because they are usually only visible at night when the stars are visible.

The way the "star clock" works is that the principal stars in each of the twelve zodiac constellations are like the twelve numbers on the face of a clock, and the planets are like "hands" on the clock face which move around the clock at different rates to tell time. Thus, the more important period for those planets is that relative to the stars, so it seems more likely that the "set time" of the outer planets is their sidereal period. Before considering each of the planets in order, we need to say a word about the celestial yardsticks used to design the solar system intervals. As stated above, the earth's average solar day is taken to be the basic unit. The 7-day week seems to be the principal yardstick of Abraham's Second Truth, concerning the sun-earth-moon system for two reasons. First, both the lunar month and the solar year come out nearly even in weeks, and second, the Enoch and Hebrew calendars are both based on the week. But other intervals appear to be those used when the Lord "laid the foundations of the earth" and of the heavens (Job 38:4). The Vientena, Trecena and Novena Abraham's Third law, which concerns the rest of the solar system, seems to use other units of time measure than the week. The basic unit is still the earth's day, but there are three other yardsticks apparently used for the orbital periods of the planets. Two of them we have encountered in my earlier articles: the 13-day trecena and the 20-day vientena of the Native American calendar.[2] Now it is time to introduce another needed piece of their calendrical system. The 13-day count was said to refer to the thirteen "Lords of the Day" but there was also a lesser known 9-day count for the nine "Lords of the Night" called the novena.[3] Each day in the novena is assigned a number from 1 to 9 in repeating succession, similar to how the week can be thought of as an continuous repetition of days numbered from 1 to 7. These 9 "lords" may have originally referred to the Moon, Mercury,Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, even as our seven-day week is associated with the first seven in that series.[4] Pluto, the other so-called planet, is one of several small bodies in the solar system which is not a "major planet" and does not appear to be part of the Lord's timepiece. But even though Neptune is not visible to the unaided eye, it is definitely one of the hands on the great celestial clock.

The Merc

All three of the intervals of the vientena, trecena and novena are apparently fundamental to the design of the solar system. Moveover, there are three larger intervals formed by taking pairs of these three fundamental day counts, two of which are clearly important in solar system design. The trecena and vientena have their first days coincide every 13 x 20 = 260 days, forming the sacred round, which has been discussed at length in my articles relating to holy days. In this article we will see that several solar system periods come out even when measured in sacred rounds. Another important unit is formed when the novena and trecena counts both begin on the same day. To my knowledge, that 9 x 13 = 117-day period has not yet been recognized, so I will call it the "merc" for reasons which will become clear in the next section. It appears be even more important that the Sacred Round in solar system measurements. The third period of 9 x 20 = 180 days is doubled to form the 360-day "prophetic year" of the Mayan long-count,[5] which does currently not appear to me to be part of solar system design. Work in Progress. It is important to note that this entire subject is one of current research and discovery. I have delayed some two decades to publish parts of what is in this article, awaiting further confirmations. The work on Mercury and Venus is now becoming mature, but I have barely scratched the surface for the outer planets. One note that occurs to me as I write this article is that the 9-day count may be more important for the sidereal (night) periods and the 13-day count may be more important for the synodic (day) periods. In fact, I am not even sure of when the first day of a novena occurs, so I tentatively adopt the same one used by the Mayans.[6]

Now let us look at each of the planets in order to see how their set times form a set of interlocking intervals, designed according to these yardsticks of the merc and the sacred round. One Planet Above Another Let us now proceed to consider each of the proposed planetary set times, in order of increasing length, "one planet above another," as the Lord told Abraham (Abr. 3:9). Mercury After the moon, the next shortest planetary period in our solar system is that of the planet Mercury. The average synodic period of Mercury over historical times is nearly 116 earth days (115.87754 days[7]), which is here proposed to be the "set time" of Mercury. It is because this period nearly equals the above described period of 117-days that I dubbed it the "merc." We will see that in many ways, the merc is the fundamental unit of time for the solar system. Because I have already discussed the role of Mercury in some details in my articles, just one example should make it clear that the Lord is using the merc as a unit of measure. The date proposed in my articles for the birth of Christ is Wed 5 Apr 1 BC pm* (after sunset), and for his resurrection is Sun 3 Apr AD 33 am* (before sunrise).[8] That interval between what are arguably the two most important dates in the history of mankind is 12,051 days. In my earlier papers, I have discussed how that interval is equal to exactly 104 cycles of the planet Mercury (104 x 115.8775 = 12,051.26). On the Mercury calendar, both the Savior's birth and Resurrection occurred on the holy day "1 Creation," which is the first day of the Mercury cycle.[9] What has this got to do with the merc? That interval happens also to be exactly equal to 103 mercs (103 x 117 = 12,051). First, this is offered as an indication that the Lord is using the merc as an interval of time measurement. Moreover, it also demonstrates how an interval which is only approximate (such as one Mercury cycle differing by more than a day from a merc) can be made to fit precisely to the very day by dropping or adding an entire cycle when needed (103 mercs = 104 cycles).

Venus

5 Venus cycles equals 8 years. The average synodic period of Venus is its evening and morning star cycle of nearly 584 days (583.92166 days). Five mercs is equal to 5 x 117 = 585 days, so, like Mercury, its cycle only differs from an exact number of mercs by slightly more than a day. Is that a significant coincidence? After all, we noted in last month's article that sometimes the ratio of planetary periods occur in whole numbers, caused by the gravitational effects of one planet on another.[10] But that is not the case here. These are the synodic periods as viewed from the earth, not the periods of revolution around the sun. Those sun-centered periods are not in any simple ratio.[11] Thus, as stated in the last article, the system was designed to be viewed from the earth, and the simple ratios don't appear in the sun-centered numbers. Thus, as we see that the set time of each planet can be measured in whole numbers of mercs or sacred rounds, it is important to remember that modern astronomers assume that these periods are essentially random, so the response of the atheist must be that it is just by chance that these values come out so close to exact numbers. Eight Years.Venus, besides having nearly exactly five times the synodic period of Mercury, is also closely tied to the length of the year on earth. The relationship is very simple: there are almost exactly five Venus cycles every eight years. To show the accuracy, note that 8 x 365 days exactly equals 5 x 584 days. The period of eight years also realigns the moon. Thus, if a child is baptized on her eighth birthday on our Gregorian calendar, she will be "reborn" near her birthday on both the Hebrew Calendar, and also the Venus calendar. This relationship is shown in the illustration by gears with 25 teeth for the earth, and 40 for Venus. Forty Years. An excellent realignment interval of all three set times of Mercury, Venus, and the year occurs after forty years. Forty years of 365 days = 25 Venus cycles of 584 days and also completes 126 Mercury cycles. As noted in my previous articles, some of the periods of forty years mentioned in the scriptures apparently occurred when these cycles aligned with the holy days on the Hebrew Calendar.[12] The Venus Calendar. It might be constructive here to note how the cycles of Venus form a miniature of all history, because this again shows the design to the solar system. The period of Venus is about 583 11/12 days, so after 12 cycles, it comes out approximately even: 12 Venus cycles equals nearly exactly 7,007 days. Using the 13-day trecena as the unit of time for the Venus calendar, one can count 11 cycles of exactly five mercs (585 days) each followed by one cycle of 572 days, for a total of 7,007 days. That way, every cycle begins at the start of a trecena.

A Miniature of History.

It turns out that 7,007 days is exactly seven periods of 1,001 days, each of which is in turn divisible by 7 (1,001 = 7 x 143). Evidence for design is suggested when the intervals divide exactly into units which the Lord seems to prefer. For example, we have been told the temporal existence of the earth will be 7,000 years, or 7 days of the Lord (D&C 77:6). We also know that the Lord divides periods into 12 parts, such as 12 hours in a day (John 11:9) or 12 months in a year. We know that all of history is also divided into 12 "hours" and that we are living in the eleventh hour (Mat. 20:6-9, D.C. 33:3).[13] Thus, the earth's temporal history of 7,000 years is divided into 12 periods, just as are the cycles of Venus. This is the kind of order which argues most strongly that the solar system was created to be a precise timepiece.

The atheist can continue to claim that all such alignments are chance coincidences, but such a posture becomes extremely unlikely, and much harder to believe than simply accepting that it was designed.

Mars

The sidereal period of Mars is 687 days (686.99576 days) and the synodic period is 780 days (779.93651 days). As stated above, the set time for the inner planets seems clearly to be the synodic period, and for the outer planets to be the sidereal period. But Mars is somewhat of a transitional planet, and there are arguments that the set time of Mars could be either. For the purposes of this article, and to show the design of the solar system and planetary progression, let us use the synodic period as the set time of Mars, but this is only a tentative proposal at this point. The synodic period of Mars is nearly exactly three sacred rounds of 260 days (3 x 260 = 780), which fact argues strongly for the set time of Mars to be the synodic period. An even the slight discrepancy eventually comes out to be exact. That is, the set time is 779 59/63 days, so after 7 x 9 years, the orbital period comes out to be exact in days. The synodic period of Mars is in a 4:3 ratio with Venus. When the 585-day approximation to Venus' synodic period is used, then it is exact: 3 x 780 = 4 x 585 = 2,340 days. This also is exactly the period on the Mayan calendar when the cycles of the vientena, trecena and novena all realign: 20 x 13 x 9 = 2,340 days. These coincidences add greatly to the arguments for the design of the solar system, as well as supporting the Mayan belief that the solar system was created according to the calendar and not the other way around. Jupiter The sidereal period of the planet Jupiter is nearly 12 years (11.86 years = 4,332.8486 days). Similarly, the earth's year is about 12 lunar months. The ancient sky was divided into twelve zodiac constellations, which are like the 12 numbers in fixed positions on the face of clock. The planets move clockwise in the circle of these constellations and can be thought of as hands of a clock. Even as the sun spends about one month in each zodiac constellation, so also does Jupiter spend about one year in each. The set time of Jupiter is within four days of being exactly 37 mercs (37 x 117 = 4,329 days). Again, that is surprisingly close to an exact number of mercs for such a large orbit. But the orbital period also comes out even more exactly in sacred rounds: 50 x 260 = 13,000 days, which is three orbits of Jupiter of 4,333.33 days each. So the orbit can be thought of as measure both in mercs and sacred rounds.

The merc is an ideal unit for tracking Jupiter. Jupiter's period is a little less than 12 years, so Jupiter spends a little less than a year in each zodiac constellation. Three mercs = 3 x 117 = 351 days, which is also a little less than a year. Thus one could create a calendar on which Jupiter moves to the next constellation in intervals of three mercs. After one full cycle of Jupiter around the twelve constellations of the zodiac, it would have taken 12 x 3 = 36 mercs. At that time one more merc could be inserted for a total of 37 mercs which corrects it to within four days. So the merc is especially well suited to track Jupiter's orbit. Saturn Planetary periods are designed like precise interlocking gears. Mercury has 9 teeth, Venus 45, Mars 60, Jupiter 333 and Saturn 828. Each tooth represents 13 days. The sidereal period of Saturn is about 29.5 years (10,764.44 days). As already mentioned in other articles, the Lord has explicitly stated that he sometimes counts one day to a year.[14] The moon's cycle of phases takes approximately 29.5 days, and the orbital period of Saturn is about 29.5 years. Thus, Saturn is counting in years as the moon is counting in days, in the same way that the Lord says he reckons. Taken by itself, it appears to be a chance coincidence, because there is no obvious reason that the moon should be calendrically related to Saturn. The argument against this merely being chance is that there is a long series of such coincidences that form a pattern. The orbital period of Saturn is almost exactly 92 mercs (92 x 117 = 10,764). I shall not attempt to calculate the odds against all these periods being measured so well in mercs, but by this time it appears to be out of the question that it is caused by blind chance.

Uranus

The planet Uranus is not usually considered to be one of the visible planets, but it can in fact be seen by a trained observer with the unaided eye in a dark sky. It currently has an orbital period of 84.0139 years (30685.4 days). Because 84 = 12 x 7, this means that Uranus spends 7 years in each of the twelve zodiac constellations. That is exactly how the Lord told Israel to count years: by sevens (Lev. 25:1-4). The orbital period is so close to being exactly 84 years that it serves to count weeks of years all through history with no corrections needed. The sidereal period of Uranus is within 6 days of 118 sacred rounds (118 x 260 = 30,680). So again, this long period is within a few days of being an exact number of sacred rounds. But there is something special about this particular number of sacred rounds. Years in Sacred Rounds. One can ask, "What number of years most nearly equals an exact number of sacred rounds?" The answer is that 42 years very nearly equals 59 sacred rounds (42 x 365.2425 = 15,340.185 days and 59 x 260 = 15,340 days). Twice that is 84 years, so if one approximates the orbit period of Uranus to be exactly 118 sacred rounds, then one automatically is counting by exactly 84-year periods. Thus we see that even the year comes out even in sacred rounds, and that happens when it exactly matches the orbit of another planet. By this time it is hopefully clear to the reader that both the sacred round and the merc we used in designing the solar system.

Neptune

When I began this research it was not obvious to me whether the planet Neptune should be included as a hand on the celestial clock, because it is not visible to the unaided eye. But as the work progressed, it became clear it is to be included. For example, the sidereal period of Neptune is 164.8 years, or 60,189.4 days. That again follows the pattern because 60,190 days equals exactly 231.5 sacred rounds. Thus, Neptune follows the same pattern as the other planets, in that ALL of the set times are nearly whole number multiples of only two sacred units of measure, the sacred round and the merc. The results, with the amazingly small errors are summarized in Table 1. Planet Period (days) Approximate Period Error Mercury 115.87754 117 = 1 merc .01 merc Venus 583.92166 585 = 5 mercs .01 merc Mars 779.93651 780 = 3 sacred rounds .0002 sr Jupiter 4,332.8486 4,329 = 37 mercs .03 merc Saturn 10,764.44 10,764 = 92 mercs .004 merc Uranus 30,685.4 30,680 = 118 sacred rounds .02 sr Neptune 60,189 60,190 = 231.5 sacred rounds .008 sr Table 1. Planetary "Set Times." All are nearly whole number multiples of either the sacred round of 260 days, or the merc or 117 days.

Conjunctions

Yesterday, on Easter Sunday, I was reviewing this article and attempted to drop Neptune from the presentation, claiming that more research was necessary. The reason was that I could see no obvious use for it such as the other planets have. That is, Jupiter moves through one constellation per year, Saturn counts years as the moon counts days, and Uranus marks sabbatical years. But as I tried to delete that section, suddenly my head was flooded with ideas, one of which I cannot refrain from including. There is an entire field which I have ignored up until this point, and that is the importance of conjunctions. A conjunction means that two objects are near each other in the sky, such as when a planet passes another planet or a star. In the case of considering planets to be hands on a clock, it means that two of the hands are aligned, pointing in the same direction. On our usual clock, the most important time that occurs is at noon and midnight, because both hands are also pointing at a number. But at the ten other places on the clock where the two hands align, they are not pointing to an exact number, but in between. Thus, I had felt that the times of aligning hands was less important than when they align with a number. I have been postponing any research on conjunctions, but that has just been changed because of Neptune. Uranus-Neptune One can calculate that conjunctions of Uranus and Neptune will occur on the average every 171.393 years (62,599.5 days) [15] Three reasons suggest that these conjunctions might have been designed for time reckoning. First, there was a conjunction between them right at Regulus, the "12 o'clock star,"[16] just before the "Beginning of Mortality" of the earth.[17] If that doesn't sound like the two big clock hands at midnight I don't know what does. Secondly, such a conjunction at that place is very rare indeed. That is because Neptune has an orbit requiring 164.8 years to get back to that place, in which time Uranus will have nearly completed two orbits (168 years). Thus they will meet only a little further away (after 171.4 years), so the place of the conjunction will still be in the constellation of Leo. It takes 4,285 years for the conjunctions to cycle through the entire zodiac to return to Regulus. Thus, these two hands together form a great long-term time marker. And third, the period between conjunctions again comes out even in mercs (535 x 117 = 62,595). Thus, one can reckon by these conjunctions to the very day by counting 535 mercs, and that will have sufficient accuracy for 7,000 years not to need correction.

If the reader is not impressed that the interval comes out nearly even in mercs, then I suggest an exercise for the atheist student: Design a clock where not only the periods for each hand are whole numbers but also the interval of the hands aligning. This discovery opens up the field of conjunctions between other planets, and I cannot now refrain from at least a preliminary investigation. After all, if this conjunction interval really was designed, then conjunctions between some other planets should follow the same pattern and also come out even in celestial time units. Jupiter-Saturn Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions have long been considered important time markers. The period between such conjunctions is about 19.85 years (7,251.81 days).[18] Checking to see if this period comes out even in celestial units yields the amazing result that it again does so in mercs: 62 x 117 = 7,254. To me, this makes it clear that the system was designed with conjunctions of the planets in mind. Mars-Jupiter Now I have to check Mars-Jupiter conjunctions and sure enough, we have another winner. They occur every 816.45 days,[19] and 819 days is equal to 7 mercs (7 x 117 = 819). The period of 819 days was already known to me as the period when the 7-day week realigns with the novena and trecena (819 = 7 x 9 x 13), but it had never occurred to me that this period might equal the interval between Mars-Jupiter conjunctions. Table 2 summarizes these results. Planets Interval Mercs (117 days) Error Mars-Jupiter 816.45 819 = 7 mercs .02 mercs Jupiter-Saturn 7,251.81 7,254 = 62 mercs .02 mercs Uranus-Neptune 62,599.5 62,595 = 535 mercs .04 mercs Table 2. Intervals between conjunctions of planets are also measured in mercs.

Conclusion

Abraham's Third Truth states that the set times of the planets form a succession of increasing periods which were designed to reckon time. The results of this article show that the periods of the planets all are nearly whole numbers of either of two different celestial measures: the sacred round of 260 days or the "merc," defined herein to be 117 days. Both of those units are derived from the Native American calendar. Moreover, it was also discovered that at least three pairs of planets have conjunction intervals of whole numbers of mercs. Until now it has been assumed by astronomers that these periods have been essentially random numbers. To have so many of them be multiples of the merc and sacred round strongly indicates that the solar system was designed to reckon time. Moreover, the Native American tradition is vindicated that the solar system was designed to fit their calendar rather than vice versa. Future astronomers may come to view the Book of Abraham as unlocking the key to the design of the solar system.

Notes1. Pratt, John P., "Abraham's Three Truths of Astronomy," Meridian Magazine (9 March 2004). 2. Pratt, John P., "Venus Resurrects This Easter Sunday," Meridian Magazine (27 Feb 2001) and "A Native American Easter," Meridian Magazine (28 Mar 2001).3. The "Lords of the Night" are listed by Anthony Aveni, Skywatchers of Ancient Mexico (Austin, Texas: U. of Texas Press, 1980), p. 157, 162. The names vientena, trecena, and novena are taken from Munro Edmonson, The Book of the Year (Salt Lake City: U. of Utah Press, 1988), p. 5.4. The order of the days of the week derives from taking those seven planets, with each of those "lords" as reigning for one hour of 24, beginning with Saturn, going from the last to the first. Each day is named for the lord reigning during the first hour. This yields the order Saturn (Saturday), Sun (Sunday), Moon (Monday), Mars (Tuesday), Mercury (Wednesday), Jupiter (Thursday), and Venus (Friday).5. The Mayan long count groups eighteen 20-day vientenas together to form the 360-day prophetic year. It has not been mentioned much in my articles because I have not yet determined whether it is part of the Lord's sacred calendars at all. It may have just been a Mayan invention. The Sacred Round, which groups twenty 13-day trecenas together, is at least a thousand years older than the Mayans, and is clearly a sacred calendar of God. The merc most likely is a group of thirteen 9-day novenas, and is clearly part of the same system as the Sacred Round.6. One assumes that the Mayan long count prophetic year of 360-days begins on day 1 of the novena because 9 divides evenly into 360. The gylphs associated with each day are numbered from that point, being called G1 through G9 (for "Glyph 1"). On my calendrical conversions pages (for example, http://www.johnpratt.com/items/calendar/calcalc/datelist.html), I use the notation "1 Light 1" where the first "1" refers to the day of the trecena, "Light" is the day of the vientena, and the final "1" is the day of the novena.7. The planetary orbital periods from Mercury to Saturn are taken from Stahlman, W.D. & Gingerich, Owen, Solar and Planetary Longitudes for Years -2500 to +2000, (Madison, U. of Wisconsin, 1963). They are average values over that historical period and hence differ from current values. The value for Saturn differs much more from the modern value than the others and is suspect, but it does not appear to be a misprint. The values for Uranus and Neptune are the current values, taken from C.W. Allen, Astrophysical Quantities (London: Athlone Press, 1976), p. 140.8. Pratt, John P., "The Restoration of Priesthood Keys on Easter 1836, Part I:Dating the First Easter," The Ensign (June, 1985), pp. 59-68 proposes the Resurrection date, and "Passover: Was it Symbolic of His Coming?" The Ensign (Jan, 1994) pp. 38-45, proposed the birth date.9. Pratt, John P., "A Native American Easter," Meridian Magazine (28 Mar 2001), Table 2.10. An excellent example is the first three large moons of Jupiter, which have sidereal periods of 1.76914 days (Io), 3.55118 days (Europa), and 7.15455 days (Ganymede). The ratio of the first two periods is 2.007, and of the last two is 2.015. (Allen, p. 146).11. The sidereal period of Mercury is 87.969 days and of Venus is 224.701 days, which have a ratio of 2.554.12. The 40-year realignment cycle is discussed in Pratt, John P., "Exodus Date Testifies of Christ," Meridian Magazine (7 Oct 2003), section 3.3.13. Note that we are not currently in the last hour, because there are twelve hours in a day.14. The day-year pattern is discussed in Pratt, John P., "Enoch Calendar: Another Witness of the Restoration," Meridian Magazine (5 Aug 2002), section 1.15. The calculation is easy: Simply calculate the rate of one planet moving around the clock relative to the other, which gives the rate of the faster hand crossing the slower. In this case the rate is (1 rev)/(Conj. Period) = (1 rev)/(30,685.4 days) - (1 rev)/(60189.4 days). Exercise for the student: Do you see why the hands on a clock only align in 11 places rather than 12?16. The four principal stars are Regulus = 12 o'clock, Antares = 3 o'clock, Fomalhaut = 6 o'clock, and Aldebaran = 9 o'clock. See Pratt, John P., "The Lion and Unicorn Testify of Christ, Part II: The Four Royal Stars," Meridian Magazine (5 Dec 2001). 17. Pratt, John P., "Venus and the Beginning of Mortality," Meridian Magazine (9 July 2003). 18. 1/P = 1/4332.8486 - 1/10764.44 19. 1/P = 1/686.99576 - 1/4332.8486

Friday, February 25, 2005

I was reading Red Mind in a Blue State “Friday Quickies” this morning as he categorized his reasons for having the Catholic Church and or the Anglican Church in the United States break off from their old world anchors.

“The key contention revolves around the watchword for this new century: democracy. Americans' true religion is democracy. We treasure freedom. We believe in "one person, one vote". The right to stand up and say, "That's wrong!" and to expect to be listened to, and to expect change-- it's in our blood.”

I’m not a Catholic and I do not know how their Church feels about the “intimate relationship” between God and Pope. What I am hearing is that there is no divine link between the Pope, his council to their members and the mind and will of God. It’s a little like that line from “Miracle on 34th Street” where the little girl tells Chris Cringle that he is “just a very nice man” and shouldn’t have believed in him when she doesn’t see the gift she had been dreaming of under the Christmas tree.

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints the president of the Church is Prophet, Seer and Revelator. In other words we believe that God runs his Church here on Earth via the Prophet. Then it is only a matter of using our Free Agency to obey the word of God; having nothing to do with democracy. I am very comfortable with this particular arrangement because of my testimony of the truthfulness of the restored gospel.

Thursday, February 24, 2005

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - A New York jury ordered Wal-Mart to pay $7.5 million in damages to a disabled former employee in a class-action lawsuit in which he claimed the retailer unfairly reassigned him to garbage duty even though he was hired to work in the pharmacy department.

The plaintiff, 21-year-old Long Island resident Patrick Brady, suffers from cerebral palsy. According to the plaintiff's attorney Douglas Wigdor, Brady applied for a position in the pharmacy unit of a Wal-Mart store in Centereach, NY. and was hired in the summer of 2002. But Brady, whoworked for just four days before he quit, claimed he was soon reassigned to other responsibilities that included collecting garbage and shopping carts in the Wal-Mart parking lot. (how demeaning; to be asked to help in other areas)

I have to ask the jury a question; Did you think this guy was a professional athlete? I mean, 7.5 million and only 4 days of work. What kind of an award would he have gotten if they had asked him to clean the toilet, wash the windows or heaven forbid, be a greeter. And you want to know why the price of things goes up…oh yes, hire the handicapped; they alway appreciate an extra million or two severance pay.

I read where State Circuit Court Judge George Greer is holding off for two days his decision on whether or not to murder Terri Schiavo; that’s right, murder. Terri Schiavo has met all the necessary criteria that entitles her the right to live out her life as a human being. The “Pro Choice” folks went to a lot of trouble to get a legal definition of what a viable embryo was, one that could support itself out side the mother’s womb. Terri Schiavo has already met that challenge; the fact that she has suffered a major disability is not in question. Once Terri Schiavo was able to support life outside the womb she earned ALL the rights of citizenship.

I heard some lawyer on a talk show going on and on about having a “Living Will” to protect your interests in the event of such a catastrophic life altering situation. His point was that Terri Schiavo should have protected her right to life through a living will. My rebuttal would have to be from the opposite side. Unless specifically indicated in writing, all citizens are automatically presumed to desire life.

I think this is a defining moment for humanity that we need to focus upon. When a State Circuit Court Judge can decide that death is better than life, we all have to suffer the blanket indictment of our society. Terri Schiavo is not a convicted criminal under penalty of death. She is at the mercy of a Godless society, one that murders babies in the womb, sometimes extracting them piece by piece, sometimes at the moment of birth. She is at the mercy of a Godless society that would permit a young woman to be starved to a painful death; her only crime is that she is unable to feed herself. I fail to see that justice has anything to do with the handling of Terri Schiavo, her parents and more importantly, those unfortunate individuals in the future whose lives will be affected by this travesty.

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

“I helped draft an agreement several years ago, a partnership between the District and the local soccer league. We let them take one of our fields and spend about $20,000 to upgrade it. Our agreement provided that school teams and programs ALWAYS got first preference, but that otherwise they had exclusive use. They renovated the field, and maintained it.

Win. Win. The District got a premiere field for the High School soccer teams; the District didn't pay a penny; and the soccer league got an "A" field for its program.I think this should be expanded. Instead of requiring youth sports to pay a fee, let them participate in the renovations. More importantly, train their members and certify them in field maintenance--and contract with the youth league, for a dollar a year, to provide the ongoing maintenance.”

There is something so plain and simple hidden in the wisdom shown by this example. I would hope that folks involved in School District policy, folks involved in community planning and especially those involved with organizing extra curicular sports for our youth will take notes on this. I can remember my dad getting together with several other grown ups to build us a baseball field on some land; I think it belonged to the utility company, which was set aside as a right of way. As I recall they even helped to install some telephone poles so that we could play at night. The field maintanence was a matter of pride for everyone who played on it or who had kids involved with baseball. There was never any vandalizm and no trash left in the dugouts. The utility company still had their right of way if they had to move heavy equipment and it didn’t cost them anything to approve the use of a barren piece of land for us to play baseball. It was, as Tony has suggested, a Win Win for everyone. Thank you Tony!

Now all you have to do is get your comment section to work for me and I will nominate you for an award.

I still have almost no clue how to use Trackback, other than I have been told that I needed it on my blog. Unrepentant Individual has gone out of his way to coach me, even sending a tutorial website for “Dummies” after my wife emailed him with a plea for help. So this will be a test of that tutorial.

Oddly enough I have an opinion about the UN which follows the line of thought I read in “Talk to the Hand” http://warbs.blogspot.com/2005/02/bush-tells-un-talk-to-hand.html where it compares the UN with the now extinct League of Nations. Seems like I just wrote an article about something that was extinct; that silly tire print fish fossil story. ( It would be ever so nice if the tools for hiding URL links worked. If anyone out there has had this problem and knows how to solve it please contact me. It worked for two URL links earlier today. Now when I try to use it; upon posting and reviewing, everything vanishes from where ever that link was typed in. I have no clue as to why that is.)

I think that the United Nations should be dissolved, their offices emptied of all office equipment and such. These items could be sold on Ebay to help pay for some of those free loaders expenses. For instance, “Ebay item number 1588777772626, a portable telephone used by the Secretary General to obtain Swiss Bank Account Funding related to the Oil for Money Scam in Iraq; starting bid is $ 5.00.” Each auction winner could be promised a document of authenticity suitable for framing.

The building could be turned into a museum, a wonderful library or some other public facility. All of the ungrateful third world pimps would have to go back home and explain that their free ride had ended. The FBI would have an easier job, not having to track all of those “get out of jail free” card holders, the ones we used to call spies. Maybe Donald Trump would like a better office, some place to tape his reality show. We could get him to do the job of running off those pimps, “You’re Fired”. I could get to like the guy after the building was sanitized and deodorized. Start with France and Germany and work down the list, Libya, Saudi Arabia, North Korea; not wanting to leave off all our friends.

I think this test of the trackback has gone on long enough. Now I get to see if it works.

I watched Tony Karon, senior editor for Time.com, being interviewed on CNN Headline News. He seemed to take delight in reporting what he called the failures of the United States to repair fences with the European Allies. It was more than annoying to watch and listen as he bashed the efforts that the United States has taken to establish a true Democracy where once there was only tyranny in Iraq. I’m glad that I don’t support Time; the only time I pick it up is either at the chiropractor’s office or at the barber shop, so someone else wasted their money on it.

Most of our supposed European Allies are governments that call themselves Democracies, and yet with each passing day they are far more Socialist, even leaning toward Communist forms of government. Is it any wonder then that they would not want the new kid on the block, the Iraqis, to have a more representative form of government? Instead of trying to emulate these Fair Weather Friends, as the Kennedy’s, the Kerry’s and the Reid’s in our Democratic Party would have us do; why not move on with out them and compare how much better off we really are. Let them eat cake!

“Supreme Court justices are expressing serious doubts today about if they have the authority to protect New London neighbors who are trying to hang on to their homes. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg noted New London has fallen on tough times. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor questioned whether the homeowners were asking the court to "second-guess" the power of eminent domain.”

I credit the AP for the news source in that first paragraph. I also saw the results of an unofficial poll taken by KPRC ( Houston’s Local NBC affiliate) in which roughly 90% who took the time to answer their poll thought that the current use of eminent domain was an abuse of governmental power. I would have linked to it except that particular news article vanished and was replaced by news of local homicides before I could get it copied.

Maybe the MIB, as Mark Levin calls them in his book, subtitled, “How The Supreme Court Is Destroying America”, should start paying attention to the signals that are being sent by the citizens of our country. When the government no longer is responsible to those whom they govern bad things happen.

“whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government”, from the Declaration of Independence.

I wonder if Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor have reviewed that portion of our founding documents lately. I am not an advocate of violence or anarchy, not by any stretch; however, I consider myself fairly restrained and to some extent, civilized. These MIB had better wake up and smell what they are shoveling before some of the less civilized start tearing things apart one piece at a time. The Supreme Court would be a good place to start.Tip of the hat to Unrepentant Individual for staying on top of this important story. Read his blog titled Stengthen the 5th Amendment.

The talk show this morning had a substitute for Glenn Beck, couldn’t tell you his name. He was going on about some proposed legislation in Hawaii to ban the slaughter of dogs and cats for food. Read the story at KTVU web site. I couldn’t help thinking about ethne and her sick kitty’s. I had left a comment indicating that one solution might be “kitty stew”. Someone else jumped in and thought that stew was out of the question, nuggets instead. We were having too much fun at ethne’s expense.

My partner and I used to patrol the near east side of Houston. There was a greasy spoon Mexican restaurant that gave us half off and so we were there at least once a week to chow down. We often joked that there were hardly any strays in that neighborhood, pretending to find a flea collar mixed in with the enchiladas. I don’t see why the Asian community is so bound up over this proposed ban; poor folks anywhere have been doing it for hundreds of years.

One of the ladies from church was presenting a Family Preparedness discussion; how much food for each member of the house, how much money to have in savings and things like that. She reminded us to set some food storage aside for the pets too. Her husband interjected, “I thought They were part of food storage”. She gave him the evil eye until he sat back down. Way to go Alan!

I then found an article in Yahoo about the banning of dog and cat fur imports. So, ethne, you better make those slippers and line those gloves before that legislation goes into effect. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

(I had the silent link tool working for half of this blog but it went wacky again...I had a great link to the pet fur article but its too long to post without the silent link tool.)

Monday, February 21, 2005

My grandson and I have a chance to walk the puppy whenever he comes over to visit. It is one of the best jobs in the world being a grandpa. He calls me Peapaw and it is the highest compliment I ever get.

We look at the moon, the stars, trees and leaves. We have conversations about the most interesting things, some of which are beyond belief. I was explaining to him that at the far end of the street he could look at some dinosaur bones. His eyes lighted up wide and he began to pretend he was marching. I later found out that there is a song on NOGGIN's web site, "We are the dinosaurs, marching, marching. We are the dinosaurs we make the Earth flat!" JJ is able to get around pretty well on the internet; glad he visits the good sites.

Here we are, a 3 year old boy and a 54 year old boy marching, marching to see the dinosaur bones. I suppose that my imagination and my sense of adventure may have taken an ordinary set of tire tracks in some white latex paint and created the fossilized fish skeleton. I gave it a name, Icthy Michalanous Extincta, pronounced, Ik thee - Misch a lane us - Ex tinct a, to make it official. It is no different than my own grandfather warning me that Soy Sauce was made from pigeon's blood. May we never recover from our imagination, not ever.

I enjoyed Red Mind in a Blue State's blog about President’s Day. I had just posted on the WeadGate story when I started going over the blogs of my fellow HCBA. Did I just use a cheesy line, WeadGate? Not to blow any smoke, but I don’t think too many folks really think President’s Day is a valued holiday anymore.

When I was growing up, not that I ever made it, we had George Washington’s birthday and we also had Abraham Lincoln’s birthday as important dates on the February calendar. There would be a big deal about having their portraits in all the class rooms, projects to see which class could make the best stove pipe hats and beards from a piece of black construction paper. At least we knew why it was a holiday back then.

Somehow the labor unions and management got sideways over having 2 paid holiday and so we ended up with President’s Day. Now I can never remember who’s birthday is which, not that it matters all that much.

I looked at the Sunday paper, the one that has the color comics. There was a half page dedicated to every thing you always wanted to know about George Washington Carver, not George Washington. I have nothing against Mr. Carver; except that on the day before President’s Day one would think that an article about the George Washington would have been more appropriate. Maybe they were still going for the Black History Month thing.

I have an idea; let’s have a Black History Month Holiday to replace President’s day. Then in March we can have Green Beer Holiday, thereby avoiding any reference to Saints. April we can have Bug’s Bunny Day to replace Easter, again, no reference to religion. After a while this gets to be a real downer, almost as bad as the History that isn’t being taught anymore.

According to CNN, "Doug Wead, the author who secretly recorded his conversations with then-Gov. George W. Bush toldCNN Monday that the tapes werea historical record that he never wanted made public". Which begs the question, “Then why did Doug Wead give the tapes to the New York Times? Did he hand them to the janitor and say, “Please toss these in the furnace; I don’t want anyone to hear these tapes?” Maybe he was still acting out his childhood; you remember, it was okay to tell a lie as long as you had your fingers crossed behind your back as you said it. ( emphisis added )

“Wead revealed the existence of the tapes to The New York Times. The Times hired a voice analyst who concluded after eight days that Bush was the speaker on the tapes. ABC News also concluded the voice on the tapes was Bush.”, from the CNN story. I wonder if Dan Rather was asked for his expertise on the authenticity of the tapes, even though the White House is not denying such.

“Doug Wead -- a former aide to President Bush's father, George H.W. Bush -- said he was thinking about writing a book when he made the tapes, but would not say whether he thought the tapes would boost sales of his book about presidential childhoods.” The entire CNN article is linked in the title line.This is not the biggest story of the month, not by a long shot; however, the main stream press seems to think so. When George W. Bush was running for the presidency the first time I can recall having some question, at least in my own mind, as to how he was going to “fade the heat” on a national level for some of his immature activities of the past. I knew that he’d been arrested for DWI, something that he was able to “float” past the public. The main test of his character at that moment in time was the fact that he met those charges up front and never tried to sweep them under the rug.

Yes, George W. Bush made some serious mistakes when he was sowing his wild oats; that was then and this is now. I hope Doug Wead’s book sells enough for him to buy back his soul, the one he sold for a hand full of silver.

I just wanted to say that the Nerd Testing questions are skewed to reflect modern day nerds and left off some relevant questions for my generation. Here’s my list of questions that would have seemed just as important:

Have you ever owned a Slide Rule?

If the answer was yes, do you still know how to use a Slide Rule?

Did you ever own a shirt that had a Fruit Loop? ( I wonder if the newer nerds even know what a Fruit Loop is)

Were you a member of the Science Club or the Chess Club?

Do you now or have you ever received on a monthly basis: A. National GeographicB. Academy of Sciences MonthlyC. NeitherD. Both How fast could you solve the Rubik’s Cube?

Do you still own any 8 Track tapes?

Is Times Roman your default font setting?Now, with that out of the way I feel much better at having scored so poorly on the Nerd Test that I posted to my sidebar. I'd give a tip of the hat to The Unrepentant Individual, except that he quit showing off his 58% Nerd score on his side bar. Where's the pride, where's the pride?

Sunday, February 20, 2005

I may be going out on a limb, wouldn’t be the first time and won’t be the last, by writing a blog that is geared entirely toward my religious beliefs. I figure that all week long I involve my writings toward modestly important social events and ideas; why not share some of my more significant thoughts and if someone is bothered, they can tune it out. If, on the other hand, someone finds it of interest, then I have opened a door that I consider of inestimable value, the path toward a personal relationship with God.

I will turn the clock back; but only a couple of days, to an email that I got from a fellow blogger. I had emailed this person to comment about a posted blog and rather than fill up their comment section I decided to address the issues via email. I got a very curt reply, “I'm an atheist and am in favor of a completely secular government. Frankly I think all religious people are mentally ill. But have a nice day.”

Here is what I sent back, after having thought about the mindset of such an individual.“I found your reply to my email mildly amusing and quite sad at the same time. It was amusing because I listen to the Savage Nation talk radio show and that is very close to one of the suggested answers for when someone from the liberal left wants to engage in some idiotic argument. It was sad because you have no comprehension of something that is greater than mortality; for this I feel pity for you. There is an “up side”; I hear that my particular form of mental illness is highly contagious. My invitation stands, not mean spirited; rather as a chance for you to investigate the cause of my illness.”

This evening I attended a meeting at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, sometimes referred to as Mormons. I took notes throughout the block of instruction and I was struck with the idea of sharing a portion of my beliefs with the blogging community in general. It is my hope that at least one person who reads this will have a greater desire to understand what is within the pages of the Book of Mormon and ask those questions that would naturally follow.

The following quotation is taken directly out of the introduction pages of the Book of Mormon. I have always thought it to be a fair challenge in and of itself.

“Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”

This next quotation comes from one of the Prophets who died about 400 years after Jesus Christ’s ministry. There is something compelling about it; both a promise and warning in Moroni 10:27. http://scriptures.lds.org/moro/10

“And I exhort you to remember these things; for the time speedily cometh that ye shall know that I lie not, for ye shall see me at the bar of God; and the Lord God will say unto you: Did I not declare my words unto you, which were written by this man, like as one crying from the dead, yea, even as one speaking out of the dust?”This all may be part of my “mental illness” and so take it with a grain of salt. I happen to believe that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, another witness that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of mankind written of in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments. I offer a challenge to you, once again, directly from the Book of Mormon. It is found in the Book of Alma, chapter 32 verse 27.

“But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.”

I think you will find that this particular blog does not force my beliefs on anyone, and it truly is an invitation to investigate the source of my “mental illness”. I have also been true to my own promise; that of using my blog site on the Sabbath day for things other than of a political nature. My blog site has a direct link to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints where you may read from the Book of Mormon or any of the other Standard Works that we call Scripture. I leave you my testimony that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

There must be a gene on one of the chromosomes, something that has been since dawn of man, a noble characteristic that causes each male of the species to protect and serve. ( This should not be confused with the non-existent gene mentioned by Senator Harry Reid, the one every American boy is born with that carries the American Dream.) This vital gift from our Creator ensures that the human family will continue; overcoming their dread of night and those unseen forces of evil that lurk just beyond our ability to observe them. Over the years fathers have taken their charge seriously; rolling a large boulder in front of the cave entrance at night to keep out the savage beasts, making sure the last embers of the fire were out and things like that. All these rituals were done to ensure his family’s safe passage through the dark hours. My father possesses the same protect and serve mechanism; no, we didn’t live in a cave. My mother often wondered aloud, “Do you think we live in a barn?” It was her sarcastic way of asking us to shut the door; but we never lived in a cave. Dad was the bread-winner and protector for our family.

Each night he would start by walking to the front door, bolt the lock and turn off the porch light. His steps were traced in the terrazzo tile as he then bolted the side door leading to the garage; turning off each light in turn along the way. The last door to be checked was the sliding patio door that guarded the rear entrance to the house. He would then close the drapes, turn off the den lights and go to bed for the night; his job completed. I know this because each night without fail my dad made sure our house was secure. It didn’t matter if he was sick with the flu or worn out from a hard day at work; at 10 o’clock he managed to find the strength from within to accomplish his sacred duties.

One Saturday evening we were watching a movie, my dad had fallen asleep in his favorite armchair. Occasionally he would snore so intensely as to awaken momentarily; glance at his surroundings, then fall back asleep after assuring himself that all was well. 10 o’clock came and we all watched his lumbering frame arise, escaping the clutches of the Naugahyde throne. The television program continued; but the real show was just starting. Dad walked to the front door; bolted and turned off those lights, retraced his steps until he was at the side door and bolted that too. He walked to the sliding back door, oblivious to the fact that we were all wide awake. There was the familiar click of the latch being engaged; leaving one last thing to accomplish, the drapes.

He reached around the edge of the drapes for the cord that pulls them along the track; they danced about half way shut on his first attempt. On his second attempt his grasp faltered and instead of closing the drapes he pulled the opposite cord and they flew back to full open. He breathed out, his eyes never once opening and started over. At some point we all forgot about the program we’d been watching. Instead we opted to watch a live Bolshoi performance, “Ballet of the Draperies”, a lesser known work that Tchaikovsky never got around to orchestrating. Each time Dad reached to pull, the draperies would dart and sway, back and forth; never quite opening or closing all the way. His breathing was becoming labored and the veins in his neck were beginning to swell noticeably; it was not going as planned.

“Dick…”, my mother interrupted; half alarmed, half amused in muted laughter, “…what the heck are you doing?” I know my mother didn’t say “heck”; refined and dignified as she is, there is no way she would have watered down the request for our benefit.

My father stopped to compose his answer. It is always wise to pause prior to returning a flame; especially when it’s to the woman you share your life with. The cobwebs broke away long enough for him to compile a few words, carefully and thoughtful so as not to create derision. “I’m practicing!”, until at last the draperies managed to play his curtain song.

Saturday, February 19, 2005

Please notice the date that this original article was written (below). Originally I'd sent a copy to the Houston Chronicle, KPRC television/radio and the Voice talk radio. I now have also sent copies of this letter/blog to several elected officials; local, state and national. This issue is still unresolved in the court system and the City of Freeport is not being forthright in its dealings when confronted by citizen’s request for information. This is not simply a local issue for those who live in Freeport. The repercussions will affect any land owner or anyone who believes that he/she owns land.

For those of you reading this article on my blog, I have linked the URL for the web page Scandal in Freeport in my blog title bar. There are a few interesting pages; one in which you can sign up for automatic updates, another to contact various elected officials and also those directly involved. Please take an active part in this issue.

The City of Freeport is using the doctrine of Eminent Domain to “acquire” a parcel of land that is currently owned by a shrimp company and turn it over to another private investor for the purpose of establishing a luxury yacht club. According to the spokesman representing the City of Freeport; pardon my not having an exact transcript in front of me, “The State of Texas encourages this.” The idea being that the City of Freeport would be better off, its image would improve and more especially its tax base would greatly improve if there were a bunch of rich folks with yachts instead of a smelly shrimp company using that piece of the beach front.

The idea of a governmental agency: National, State or local, deciding who should own property based on this particular rational is Un-American in nature. I could understand if the land were barren and not useable for anything, left unattended for lack of any possible use or any number of zoning issues that were already in existence; however, this is not the case. This property has been and is currently used at the discretion of its rightful owner; just not the most advantageous tax revenue partners that the City of Freeport has chosen to support. This is nothing more than theft, outright theft.

A special thanks to Mover Mike for reminding me about the importance of keeping tabs on the government when they claim the right of eminent domain.http://movermike.blogspot.com/

Friday, February 18, 2005

From blogger, "A Red Mind in a Blue State", a quote from the great Theodore Roosevelt:"A vote is like a rifle: its usefulness depends upon the character of the user."

Character of the user is the point of my blog today. New York junior Senator Hillary Clinton is pushing for a national holiday to get the vote out. On top of that she wants to extend the privalidge to vote to convicted Felons. Maybe, just maybe Senator Clinton wants to make sure that she and Bill won’t ever loose their voting status some day when it all catches up with them.

I was reading, Rewriting History, by Dick Morris. In the first chapter he explained about two known lies that Hillary fabricated over items that would seem irrelavant. She made up a preposterous lie about how she happened to have the name Hillary, an out right lie that was easily uncovered. She lied about concerns for her daughter Chelsea on 9/11, again a lie about the where abouts of her daughter in order to attach the Clinton family with the misery of those families who actually did have losses. Character is not something you can put away for a while and take it back up when the mood suits you.

So, the question begs for an answer, why would Senator Hillary Clinton want to extend voting privaliges to convicted felons? Could it be that she believes that most of the roughly 4 million felons would tend to vote for a Democratic Presidential candidate? Think for a moment, which of the 2 biggest national parties aligns itself as “tough on crime” and along that same vein of thought; then who would a convicted felon favor? The last presidential election was decided by about 3 million votes in favor of George W. Bush. I think the Democrats would relish the opportunity to add 4 million allies to the voter pool, just enough to swing the pendulum in their direction. This all assumes that these felony voters would even bother to vote.

I have another question, something that by its ommission stands even more brightly. How come Senator Hillary Clinton never mentioned the disenfranchised voters who are in the active military? It would seem that those who wanted to vote, or did vote and their ballots were denied have a greater voice to be heard than some dirt ball convict. Maybe its just my “take” on the issue; but didn’t the active military, those whose votes were actually allowed, didn’t they vote close to 75% Republican? Maybe its not so much the idea that some folks are disenfranchised as to which ones would benefit her particular motivation.

Last but not least in my thoughts regarding felons and voting; why was it that felons were denied the privalidge to vote to begin with? Didn’t it have something to do with their character not matching up to the level of citizenship necessary to properly administer that right? It’s a lot like a liar trying to pass herself off as an Honorable Senator.

It would seem true that, "A vote is like a rifle: its usefulness depends upon the character of the user." There is little or no room for folks lacking character in the Senate, much less someone with her sights set on the presidency.

I was listening to the local talk show this morning and heard the end of an interview with a caller. The information was from a fellow who flies the border of Texas 3 times a week as aerial surveillance in conjunction with the US Border Patrol. I have no reason to doubt the authenticity of his remarks when he stated that there are many Middle Eastern illegal aliens crossing the border from Mexico into Texas each week. These are not Mexican Nationals looking for a job picking fruit or some other labor related issue; these are potential terrorists who have been caught and documented as such.

I am in agreement with Nerdy Conservative . . . (http://nerdyconservative.blogspot.com/ ) ( I still cannot use the “quiet link” that Blogger template supplies, it just isn’t working ). . .when he say’s that this constitutes a Clear and Present Danger to the United States of America. I call on our elected representatives and those who have been appointed with the stewardship of security to address this issue.

Why haven’t the borders been sealed? Why have we not heard more about this threat, other than on talk radio? Why are we walking on rice paper when Mexico’s President Fox rattles his hurt feelings at us?The $5.8 Billion slated to research for Kyoto environmental solutions would be a huge waste of money, based on actual scientific data rather than the “we should feel guilty for success” mantra of the green party. ( I have linked to this information via the Title line. ) Instead let’s hire as many new border patrol agents and equip them properly with that money. Use some of that same money to subsidize local police departments in the southern border states so that they can adequately deal with illegal aliens and last but not least; actually enforce those immigration laws rather than listening to the liberal left’s bleeding hearts puke about having to feed the worlds starving, patch them for free in our state of the art hospitals and teach their children for free in our public schools that are paid for with our tax dollars. Can you hear me up there in Washington? Can you hear me “out there” you in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals; yes you assholes who overturned California’s Proposition 187? Isn’t it time to start defending the United States instead of leaving it wide open to those who intend to tear it down?My answer; remember that I am a normally a good going to church on Sunday kind of guy, my answer is Damn right its time to shut those borders!

About Me

I am a retired City of Houston Police Officer having served 20 years as a patrol officer. I am currently self employed as an automotive locksmith. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I am married to my first and only sweetheart. We met while working at the Astrodome; she was the popcorn girl and I was the soda boy, both working in the back areas during our high school years.
We have 3 grown children and two grand children.